'Painstaking' task to recover crash bodies

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has warned the families of six Australian mining executives killed in an African plane crash that it will take "longer than they would wish" to bring the bodies of their loved ones home.

Search teams say there are no survivors in the wreckage of an Australian-chartered plane which crashed into thick jungle in the West African nation of Congo.

The aircraft was carrying six executives from Perth-based mining company Sundance Resources, including billionaire coal baron Ken Talbot.

The wreckage was discovered about 10 kilometres inside the Congolese border after an intense search involving at least three countries including Cameroon, Gabon and Congo.

Emergency workers have already recovered nine bodies and they do not believe there are any survivors, Cameroon's information minister Issa Bakary said.

"For the moment between nine and 10 corpses have been retrieved," he said.

Mr Bakary says the bodies have not yet been identified.

Sundance chairman Geoff Wedlock, managing director and CEO Don Lewis, company secretary John Carr-Gregg and non-executive directors John Jones and Craig Oliver were the other Australians on board with Mr Talbot.

Two Britons, two French citizens and an American were also on the plane.

Mr Smith told AM that the process of bringing the bodies home will not be easy.

"Disaster victim identification is always lengthy, time-consuming and difficult," he said. "Regrettably now we have to brace ourselves for a long and painstaking process. It'll take longer than the families would wish to repatriate the bodies."

George Jones, a former chairman of Sundance Resources who has been appointed a strategic adviser, has told AM the company is trying to recover the bodies and bring them back to Australia.

"We'll be advising the families that it won't be necessary for them to travel," he said.

"It's a very difficult terrain, it's a difficult country and I think it's best that we bring their family back to Perth and to Sydney and to Brisbane and respective places."

Mr Jones says counselling is being offered to the families and colleagues of the crash victims.

"I've spoken to a couple of them, you know - I only found out around midnight," he said.

"I've travelled to a couple of the homes and told them directly and all of the other members have been advised separately.

"We've had teams going in all directions. We've obviously had the police involved and we've had some counselling help involved as well."

Black box found

The plane's flight recorder has been recovered but it is too early to say what caused the crash.

The search and rescue process was hampered by poor visibility due to fog and difficult access to the mountainous terrain.

The twin-engined plane's flight on Saturday from the Cameroon capital Yaounde to Yangadou in neighbouring Congo was meant to take an hour.

The last radio contact with the pilots was about 30 minutes into the flight and there was no indication that the plane was in any trouble.

There has been speculation the plane may have crashed into a mountain after flying through fog or cloud.

Sundance has released a statement saying the crash site has been secured.

"Two Sundance contractors and a representative of the French military remain ... with the bodies," it said.

"Given fading light, the remainder of the French military and Sundance personnel have relocated to the Avima mining camp, 10 kilometres away, where they will remain overnight.

"The company will recommence the recovery operation at first light on Tuesday, 22 June 2010. Given the remoteness of the crash site, Australian mining contractors located in the vicinity will commence clearing access tracks to the accident site."

Those on board had been due to visit a Congo iron ore project which is owned by Sundance.

Sundance Resources asked the Australian Stock Exchange to suspend its shares yesterday and investment bank Renaissance Capital earlier downgraded the company from buy to hold.

"When Sundance begins to trade again there could be a significant markdown in value to reflect the uncertainty of the current situation," the bank said in a research note.

Tributes to mining chiefs

Michael Roche, the chief executive of the Queensland Resources Council on which Mr Talbot served from 2001 to 2007, has paid tribute to his former colleague.

He says Mr Talbot will be remembered as a generous and driven man.

"It's the news we all feared unfortunately," he said.

"This is a great tragedy for a loving husband, father, as well as the public persona, the entrepreneur, the industry visionary."

The father of one of the other executives killed in the crash, John Carr-Gregg senior, says his son enjoyed the adventure of travelling to remote sites with his job, but his death is devastating.

"You can imagine it's sad but in a way it's certain relief that the waiting is over," he said.